Chae Sun Kim Gets 39 Months for ID Theft, Bank Fraud

PORTLAND, Ore. — Chae Sun Kim, a 62-year-old South Korean native with a federal crime record, was sentenced Wednesday, October 19, 2016, to 39 months in prison for orchestrating a bank fraud and identity theft scheme across the Portland metro area. Kim, already twice convicted of federal fraud offenses, illegally reentered the U.S. to pull off the scam, sealing his fate with a scathing rebuke from the judge.

Kim pled guilty in March 2016 to charges of bank fraud, identity theft, and illegal reentry into the United States. U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Jones handed down the sentence, calling Kim a “crook” and ordering him never to return to the country. Kim, standing before the court, assured Judge Jones he would not come back — a promise made from behind federal bars.

Court records reveal that between April and May 2015, Kim and an associate manufactured a fake Republic of Korea passport under a fictitious name to open multiple bank accounts. Using the alias and the business name King Blackbox, Kim registered accounts in his own name and laundered fraudulent activity through them, causing losses exceeding $18,000 across at least six financial institutions.

When federal agents executed a search warrant at Kim’s Las Vegas residence, they uncovered a full-scale forgery operation: equipment capable of producing hundreds of counterfeit identification documents, along with false IDs bearing other people’s names. The discovery painted a clear picture of a man deeply entrenched in identity crime, not a first-time offender but a repeat player in the world of financial deception.

This isn’t Kim’s first run-in with U.S. justice. In 2002, he was convicted in the Western District of Washington for conspiracy to defraud the United States, Social Security number fraud, and visa fraud. That conviction earned him 63 months behind bars. Deported in 2007, Kim reappeared in the U.S. to restart his criminal enterprise — a decision that cost him another three-plus years in prison.

Judge Jones ordered Kim to pay $48,718.49 in restitution — $30,000 of which goes to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, Office of Investigations. Helen Cooper, Special Assistant United States Attorney, prosecuted the case, part of a joint effort between the SSA’s Seattle Region and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland, Oregon.